Trust me
by EliH2
Summary: Max faints mid flight, which leads to a series of well, unfortunate events. The flock must put their trust in an unknown human, and find a way to save Max before its to late. FAX progression. Title is rubbish. Rated T for laungauge. Lots of Hurt/Sick Ma
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't own Maximum Ride the series, Maximum Ride the character, or and other characters in the MR books. Shocker.**

Have you ever had one of _those_ days? You know, the day when nothing goes right, and almost everything goes wrong? Where you feel like yelling for the whole world to hear, and then just crying like you don't care who sees you? Yeah, I have a lot of those days, and for the record, I rarely scream and cry.

Today was one of them (not the days when I scream and cry, just one of _those_ days.) Nothing truly terrible had happened, but it was also lacking in good things. Not that anything _good_ really happens to us. But the little things, like a hug from Angel, or a smile from Fang. Or happening across an abandoned wallet, and actually getting to _eat_. Everyone's spirits seemed lower today, and Nudge was barely talking. _Nudge_ people! The constant talker? The one who could probably outtalk a politician talking about themselves? That's right. And the sad part was that I couldn't bring myself to enjoy it.

I felt like crap. Us bird kids rarely get sick, but we do occasionally, and I had a feeling that this was one of those times. And no, you didn't read the sentence wrong. I said bird kids. Long story short, a bunch of psychotic evil scientists did a bunch of psychotic evil things, and ended up grafting avian DNA into a bunch of babies. Who grew up to be us. And by us, I mean, Angel, The Gasman, Nudge, Iggy, Fang, and myself. We are a family, even though the only ones who are actually related by blood are Angel and Gazzy.

Anyway, I felt like crap. And that is not the best thing when you are flying. But I would be fine. No explosive headaches (me), no gaping stomach wounds (Fang), no urge to fly ahead and slit my wrist (me again, and it's not what you think.)

"Max," Fang started. Damn it. If anyone would notice the fact that I wasn't exactly 100, it would be Fang, and from the tone of his voice and the fact that he had whispered, I gathered that he had noticed. Damn it. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I said, trying to emulate his speak-no-more-than-two-words-at-time rule.

"You're flying strangely, and you're pale." He continued, breaking his rule. Most of the time the fact that he was not much of a talker annoyed me, but today I would have preferred it.

"I. Am. Fine." I practically snarled, which kinda took away from my argument.

"Ok," said Fang, not willing to argue. Apparently, I had ticked him off by snapping at him, because he flew ahead of the pack. I stayed toward the rear.

About five minutes later, I was flying all little further back, needing some space. That's when suddenly, everything went black.

**(Fang POV)**

I was seething. I mean, how rude can you get? All I had done was try to make sure she was all right, and she had practically bitten my head off. Jeez.

I was so angry that it took me longer that it should have to notice that Max wasn't flying with us anymore. I looked around, and suddenly spotted her, falling. She was at least 250 feet below, me. Crap. I immediately dove towards her and tucked my wings in, diving form. I raced downward, closing the distance between me and Max, but Max was only a few hundred feet above the ground by now. I pulled my wings in even tighter. I was so close; only 25 feet away...20...15...10...5... Got her! And here comes the ground.

**AN: Sorry about that. I'll update soon, I have a plan for this fic. My next chapter will be longer too. And if any of you are wondering why I am starting another fic, don't worry. I have not abandoned **_**Vacation or Disaster?**_**, but am trying to figure out how to continue. If any of you have read it, suggestions are appreciated. **

**Reviews motivate me by the way!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Guess what

**Disclaimer: Have any of you heard a disclaimer on this site that says: I own Maximum Ride? I thought not. Sorry, but I won't change that for ya.**

**(Fang POV)**

I snapped my wings out as fast as I could, and put all my effort into pulling out of the dive. _Shit!_ Ow! My wings took a lot of the strain, and that hurt like crap, but worse, holding Max had yanked my shoulder down, hard. Dislocated shoulder. Shit.

As if my situation could possible be any worse, I was flying 100 miles per hour straight into a forest. Do you know how hard it is to weave between trees when you are going that fast? But I did my best, and we gradually began to slow down. Suddenly, I ran into something, hard. A tree branch that I had not seen. Everything went black.

When I came to, I was lying on the forest floor in a shit load of pain. If you have ever had a dislocated shoulder, then you know that it is probably the most painful thing that you can endure without losing consciousness. Plus, the branch I had run into had sliced open my side, right where Ari had previously. Clamping my hand over the wound, I looked around for Max. She was lying face down in the dirt about 30 yards away from me. One of her ankles was obviously broken from the way it was angled. And sticking out of her back was another branch. Her shirt was already soaked in blood, and I rushed over to her.

Forgetting my dislocated shoulder, I tried to move her. Bad idea. I almost blacked out again from the pain of that little expedition. Crap. What was I going to do? I needed help. Where was the rest of the flock?

_Angel!_ I shouted in my head. Does that sound weird to you? See, Angel can read minds. I just hope she was close enough to hear me. _Now would be a great time!_

The pain in my shoulder was gradually getting worse. I tried to ignore it and put pressure on Max's wound, but that is easier said than done. I rarely feel helpless, but now was definitely one of those times. I couldn't remove the branch for fear that I would tear open an artery or something, and because of my shoulder, I couldn't put enough pressure on the wound to staunch the blood much at all.

Suddenly, I heard a branch snap and I froze. Well, more accurately, I snapped my wings in and froze. Glancing around cautiously, I saw a woman in her late teens or early twenties walking no more than 50 feet from us. I held my breath, and willed her to move on. I almost got my wish, until she noticed the small pool of blood that had been left by my stomach wound. Crap.

She glanced around in our direction, and seemed to spot us. Thankfully, Max was blocked from her view, but I must of looked pretty bad, because she seemed quite shocked. The woman started towards us, and I prepared myself to fight. Even with the gash in my side and a dislocated shoulder, I could probably take her out. But that would leave Max open, and there was no way that I could move her.

As if sensing that my hackles were raised, the woman came to a stop. Hesitantly, she called, "Are you all right?" She didn't sound threatening, but I know better than anyone that looks can be deceiving. Or in this case, sounds.

Now that she was closer, I took more time to examine her. She was wearing outdoor clothes, and carrying a large backpack. Her shoes were hiking boots. She had light brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, with a ringlet hanging in her face. She was very beautiful, but in a more of an old fashioned way. Her clothes were in no way revealing, but I could see that she was in good shape, and had a very good figure. I would judge her height to be 5' 6", and put her at about 110 pounds. I observed all of this in about five seconds, and judged that for now, it would be better not to fight.

"We're fine." I said, but then, my shoulder gave a particularly painful throb and I hissed in pain.

The women looked concerned. Taking another step forward she said, "You don't seem 'fine' to me." Her voice was laced with the slightest hint of sarcasm that raised my opinion of her for some reason.

But, as she came closer, she could see Max, who was in a lot worse shape than me. "Oh my god," said the women, who had paled considerably. Miraculously, Max's wings were not obvious under the jacket that I had been trying to use to stop her bleeding.

"Ok, I don't care what you say, you guys need medical attention. Or at least she does."

"Oh, and is there a hospital near here?" I asked sarcastically. Being as that we were in the middle of a huge forest, that possibility seemed pretty dim.

--

**AN: Sorry, that chapter was pretty short as well. Hopefully as I go on, the chapters will get longer. Thank you to my reviews, you make me very happy. I might update tomorrow, but if not it will proabably be another week. So, if you want to motivate me, review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: This is stupid! I have not suddenly inherited a billion dollars and purchased Maximum Ride! So guess what? I still don't own it!**

**(Fang POV)**

"Oh, and is there a hospital near here?" I asked sarcastically. Being as that we were in the middle of a huge forest, that possibility seemed pretty dim.

Completely ignoring me, mystery lady (hey- she needed a name! I couldn't just keep calling her "the woman" could I?) proceeded to dig around in her backpack coming up with a fair amount of what looked like hospital supplies. We're talking IV's, syringes, stethoscopes, bandages, and IV bags that actually had stuff in them!

"Umm… hello?" I questioned. "Before I let you touch either of us, you're gonna answer a few questions. One- Who the heck are you? Two- How old are you? Three- What the hell are you doing in the middle of a forest with a bunch of crap that looks like it's been stolen from a hospital?"

Looking up at me she answered, "My name is Kelsey Hicks, I am twenty two, and I'm a bit paranoid. I've always liked _backpacking_ but been afraid something would happen, thus all of the 'crap that looks like it's been stolen from a hospital."

Ok-ay. 22? "Next question, if your only twenty two, what makes you think that your in any way qualified to use that stuff?" I asked quite sarcastically.

"Hmm… let's see here. I graduated from high school when I was 17 with a year and a half of college credit. I'd taken medical electives since I was a sophomore. Then, I finished college in another two and a half years. I got a nursing certificate at the same time, worked for a year at a hospital, then enrolled in med school, and am now going into my second year in med school, but I have about three years of credit already. Plus, my uncle taught me how to perform surgery. He's an orthopedic surgeon. Happy?" All of this was said in such a way that it was obvious that she was pretty pissed off. "And before you even ask the next question, even if you wouldn't normally let me 'touch you,' you're in the middle of the forest, and damn lucky that I came across you. If you want me to leave, I will, but if I do, I guarantee your girlfriend will die.

"She's not my girlfriend,' I mumbled. Kelsey was right though. I didn't have much choice. "Fine."

"Good. It looks like your shoulder is dislocated, and you'll be useless to me like that, so I'll fix you first." Kelsey said briskly. I was amazed, how could she tell that my shoulder was dislocated? Maybe she _was _good. "I'll need you to lie down, and brace yourself. This is gonna hurt."

I didn't see how it could possibly hurt any more than it already did, but I lay down reluctantly. Kelsey came and examined my shoulder for a minute. With a quick move, she put pressure on it and moved it quickly. _**SHIT!**_ I was wrong. That hurt ten times worse, and I let out something in between a moan and a hiss. After a moment, I realized that the pain was over, and my shoulder felt almost normal. It felt tremendously better. "Thanks," I said earnestly.

Kelsey seemed impressed. "Most people would have screamed." She replied to my questioning look. "Ok, next, I am going to hook...' she trailed off gesturing towards Max. After a moment of hesitation, I told her Max's name. "Max to an IV and give her something to clot the blood. Then, I will remove the branch and give her a blood trans..."

"No!" I exclaimed. "You can't give her hum… err, normal blood. I could give you a donation though."

Kelsey looked skeptical. "I have some blood of all blood types, and the odds that a non-relative would have blood that is a closer match than any I have is extremely minimal."

Shit. We needed her help, I recognized that now. But I also couldn't let her give Max normal blood. There was only one thing that I could do, and if Max was awake she probably would have stopped me. "Well," I began nervously, "We're not exactly human." I unfurled my wings.

If she was shocked, she didn't show it. "Okay, maybe your blood would be a better idea." Kelsey said, in strangely calm voice. "But you're bleeding pretty heavily yourself. Is there anyone else who is… like you?"

Crap. I'd forgotten my own damn stomach wound. _Angel! _I shouted in my head as loud as I possibly could. _We really need help!_

I was starting to get dizzy. I guess that I had lost more blood than I thought. "Yeah, I'm trying to get them to come." I said, sagging against a tree.

Kelsey looked concerned again. 'Let me see you side." She instructed. "No, Mac needs the blood clotters." I managed. Kelsey now looked really concerned.

"Umm… I already gave them to her." Kelsey pulled out a penlight from her pocked and flashed it in my eyes.

"Sh-top it," I slurred, and passed out.

**AN: I know, I'm evil! Reviews make me happy! Thak you to everyone who has reviewed so far. Sorry again for the short chapter, but they will be like that at first. Once I get the story going chapters will become longer.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never will. Enough said.**

**(Angel POV)**

_Angel! _I heard dimly in my head. Fang! The flock and I had been circling above the forest hoping to see Max and Fang either by luck, or that one of the two would call me. _We really need your help!_ I zeroed in on the source of the call. I started down toward where it had come from, and the rest of the flock followed.

**(Kelsey POV)**

I watched the boy faint in a kind of eerie, slow motion. All the time I was thinking about all of the things that I should have done differently. I should have examined his wound, I should have bandaged him up, I shouldn't have been so distracted. Not that I didn't have good reason. Wings! For Lord's sake! How was I supposed to focus on doing anything when the people I am trying to help just happen to be mutants? I imagine that I actually took it rather well. I mean, the kid had seemed surprised that I didn't run off, screaming. I was surprised myself.

"Okay, snap out of it," I whispered to myself. First things first. I quickly bandaged up the mutant bird boy. I suddenly realized that I only knew one of their names. Glancing over at the other, Max, I saw that the IV blood thinner was helping. It was now or never. I made my way over to her, set out my supplies and prepared myself to remove the branch. Suddenly, something hit me from the side, hard. I must have blacked out, because the next thing I knew, I tall, pale, read headed kid was standing in front of me. Oh yeah, and did I mention he had wings? And that I was tied to a tree?

"What did you do to them?" He snarled.

"Hmm, let's see. Popped tall and dark's shoulder back into place, bandaged his side. I gave Max there some blood clotters. I was going to remove the branch from her arm until I was so rudely interrupted…" I trailed off, realizing that it was probably not a good idea to smart talk the person… or mutant that was holding you captive.

"Do you think that I'm gonna believe that?" He whispered menacingly.

"She's telling the truth," said a light, musical voice from behind him. Suddenly, my interrogator stepped away and looked questioningly at a little girl who looked to be about 8. But who knows? "I'm actually six." She said.

Okay, can I say creepy? Beautiful winged children who answer your thoughts. Or had I said that out loud?

"No, you didn't. I can read minds." She said politely, and smiled.

Yes. Creepy. "Who are you anyway?" I asked, hesitantly. I was still weirded out by the mind reading 6-year-old thing.

"I'm Angel. This is Iggy." She gestured toward the kid who had previously tied me up. "Nudge." A dark skinned girl stepped into my line of vision. She smiled hesitantly, looking like she was trying to restrain herself from saying something. "This is The Gasman." A slighter older, male version of Angel waved. So, that left only tall and dark.

"That would be Fang," supplied Angel.

"Wait a minute. Angel, Nudge, The Gasman, Iggy, Fang?" I asked incredulously. "What did you guys name yourselves."

"Not exactly, but pretty much. See we're orphans. Or at least, we think we're orphans. These evil scientist types grafted avian DNA into our blood, and we grew up in this place called the School, but it wasn't really a school…" Nudge began.

"Nudge," said Iggy, and she stopped, but did not look happy about it.

Suddenly, I heard a groan, and Fang sat up. "What happened?" He mumbled, and tried to stand. Once again he sagged against a tree, and held his side. He looked over the scene, taking it in. One side of his mouth twitched up in a sort of half smile. "Are you comfortable like that Dr. Hicks?" He asked in an amused tone of voice.

I started, realizing that I was _still_ tied to a tree, and that I had been carrying on a conversation from that position. Just like me to forget the more complex facts of life in favor of the more obvious ones. I mean, who would _possibly_ remember that they are tied to a tree? Especially when there is something else as engaging as a conversation with kids? Sometimes, I amazed myself. And not in a good way.

Suddenly, I heard a laugh. It was Angel, who glanced up at me, amused. "You're funny." She stated, for the first time sounding like a 6 year old.

"So, are you going to let me down?" I asked.

"I don't know, I'd like to see how many times you forget that your up there" Fang started. Now _that_ was annoying. It was one thing for me to make fun of myself, but completely different when someone else did.

"Fine. Leave me up here if you like, and I can watch you do a blood transfusion on your own. _I'd_ like to see how many times _you_ screw up. Or you could not give her a transfusion, and see what happens." I ranted. "Oh, and just to be fair, if you go with the second option you should probably know before hand. If your buddy Max there doesn't get a transfusion, odds are, she's going to die."

I saw any trace of amusement leave all of their faces. Fang seemed particularly sobered. He quickly came over to me, and untied me, allowing me to fall. He didn't offer me a hand up. "Okay, let's do this. No matter what you say, I don't want her to die."

Feeling guilty, I hung my head. But I had to tell them the rest. In almost a whisper, I said, "with the amount of blood she has already lost. She might die anyway."

--

**AN: I have a disease! I am cursed to always have to end my chapters with cliff hangers. I am really sorry about that. But hey, I updated so, you can't complain. Evil laughter**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Yo no tengo Maximum Ride. **_**Translation: I don't own Maximum Ride.**_

**I do however; own Kelsey Hicks and this story. But I am not making any money off it, so no point in suing me.**

**(Fang POV)**

Kelsey looked at Iggy. "Would you be willing to give some of your blood?" She asked.

Before Iggy could even reply, I said, "I'll do it." After all, Max had given blood for me.

"No you won't" snapped Kelsey automatically. "You've lost a significant amount of blood too. I will not endanger you by taking blood from you when there are other perfectly good donors."

"Yes. You will." I growled. "After all, we know that my blood will work because Max has given blood to me."

"Actually… that's not necessarily true. If Max had type O blood, or you had type AB blood, then it would work one way and not the other. Also, if you are Rh positive and she is Rh negative, then it would be the same thing." Kelsey said.

"I don't care. I got us into this mess; I'm getting us out of it." I stated. "Max is out of it. I'm leader. Iggy will _not_ give blood. Or any of them." I knew that I was being ridiculous, and I knew that I was probably making myself look like an idiot. Maybe I was an idiot. I know that Max would call me exactly that if she were conscious. But she wasn't. And for some reason, I just _had_ to be the one to give that blood. Don't ask me why. Maybe I was still loopy from lack of blood, but I felt like something bad would happen if I didn't give Max my blood. "So unless you want me to do this transfusion by myself, you'll take my blood."

"Fine," Kelsey huffed, and her heard her mutter something that sounded suspiciously like, "boys."

--

Half an hour later, I was so light headed that I couldn't even sit up straight. But Max had received the blood and Kelsey said she was showing signs of improvement. I would never admit this out loud, but I was actually kind of grateful that we had run across her. She had saved Max's life, and possibly my own. Probably not, but possibly.

Plus, she had taken the whole we-are-a-flock-of-mutant-bird-kids thing pretty well. But I was still wary of her. One thing I had learned from Max: never trust anyone.

"Okay. We need to go someplace else. The forest floor is not the best place for recuperation." Kelsey announced. "Iggy, you should probably help Fang. Nudge and I will get Max."

No one moved. We were not grateful enough to her that we would start taking orders from her. Finally, I voiced what was on everyone's mind. "Umm… where exactly are we going to go? If you haven't noticed we're still in the middle of the forest."

"I have a vacation cabin. I was going to take you there. It's where I stay when I'm backpacking. Since I just started out today, it's not that far." Kelsey explained.

"Nudge, see if you can find it from the air. Scope around, see if its okay. Then report back." I instructed. Right away Nudge took off.

Both Kelsey and Iggy didn't seem to appreciate my command. My guess would be that Kelsey was resentful that we still didn't trust her and that Iggy didn't like being skipped for the mission. But hey- he's blind. No matter what else he _can_ do, he certainly can't find a random cabin.

Within a few minutes, Nudge returned. She looked confused. "I can't find it. The only building that's anywhere near here is this awesome house… but no cabins."

"Um… well. I know I said it was a cabin. But that 'awesome house' was what I was talking about." Kelsey looked embarrassed.

Nudge's eyes widened. "You own that house? Oh my god, its sooooo cool. Even though I didn't' think it was what I was looking for, I checked it out anyway. It's got this huge pool, and awesome garden, and-"

"Nudge." I warned. "Just tell us if it looked ok."

"YES! More than ok, it was totally, completely awesome..." Nudge stopped when I glared evilly at her.

"Other than indulging Nudge here, what exactly would be the point of going to your 'cabin.'?" I asked, skeptically.

"Well being as you can't walk, much less fly and Max there is still unconscious, you should at least have a place to crash that isn't going to be overrun with wolves at night." Kelsey said.

Wow. She could not have been closer considering that we hadn't told her about the erasers. But was that just a coincidence, or did she know something? And did we trust her enough to stay at her house? The last time that we stayed at a really nice house, we ended up running for our lives. So- to go or not to go.

Angel suddenly came over and sat next to me, giving me a hug. I wasn't nearly as comfortable playing parent as Max was, but I endured. Angel needed me. And to tell the truth, it was actually kind of comforting. "You can trust her." Angel whispered. "She's not hiding anything, she let me see everything. That lady is really smart, and she has a lot on her mind, but she's not like the whitecoats at all."

Well, that certainly made my decision a lot easier. So did what happened next.

"And another reason it would be wise for you to come home with me…" Kelsey sounded concerned.

"What?" I growled.

"Max has a fever." She said.

That may have been concerning to Kelsey, but it was even worse for me. Because I know how well our immune systems work. I know that we hardly ever get sick enough to have a fever. And I know that when we do, it's usually something bad. Real bad.

--

**AN: Okay, I'm sorry. I know that I keep doing the same thing to you guys: ending on an ominous note for Max. Sorry. Also, I have to apologize for the late update. I had a day long soccer tournament yesterday, and before that I was really busy with school work. I should be able to update tomorrow. Review my people, and the author shall be motivated!**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Guess what

**Disclaimer: What exactly is the point of this? If I owned Maximum Ride, then Max would not run away from Fang. Draw your own conclusions people.**

**(Fang POV)**

_Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. _ God, that was annoying. _Beep. Beep. Beep. _What was that?! _Beep. Beep._

Blearily I opened my eyes. For a moment, I didn't recognize where I was, and panicked. Then it all came rushing back to me. Max! I glanced around wildly, located Max and calmed down a bit. We were both in Kelsey's house. The room was essentially a hospital room, except for the happy exception that it did not smell like antiseptic. Max was lying on the bed, hooked up to an assortment of machines. She shouldn't have been there! Max was too strong for that! But, now she looked incredibly weak. Incredibly frail.

Somehow, seeing Max pale and thin aroused an enormous sense of guilt in me. It wasn't logical, but it had occurred to me how very much pressure Max was under; pressure from her father to "save the world," pressure from the younger members of the flock to let them do this or that, and the pressure of being a 14 year old single parent with four kids. Sometimes five. And still, we excepted her to be strong, to just be able to live like that. It was so easy to forget that Max wasn't as invincible as she looked.

She didn't look invincible now. She looked small, pitifully small. And… in pain? That was new. She had always seemed almost serene before. It alarmed me. Was she getting worse?

"Fang," a horse voice said. Jumping, I glanced around only to realize the voice was coming from Max. She was awake!

"How are you feeling?" I asked, only to realize what a stupid, pointless question it was. Of course she was feeling terrible, and of course she would deny it.

"A little shaky, but other than that, actually I'm quite well." See what I mean? "So… what happened? Where are we? Why are we where we are? And are we safe where we are why ever we may be where we are?" _What?_ Apparently the baffled look on my face was enough to convey my thoughts. Max sighed, then winced then covered up the wince with an eye roll. "What happened? Where are we? Why are we? Are we safe?" _Oh._

"Uh… you got stabbed. Some lady's house. You needed medical attention. And… I think so," I explained. Max frowned, and raised an eyebrow.

"Look, we were in the forest, my shoulder was dislocated, and both of us were bleeding. You were bleeding a lot, and unconscious. This hiker came across us, and it turns out she's in med school and rich, so she ended up helping us. But not before the others came, attacked her, tied her to a tree, and interrogated her. Apparently Angel said she was OK because when I came to…" Max raised another expressive eyebrow. "Look, I fainted because I'd lost a bit of blood. Not a big deal." Max rolled her eyes.

"Yeah- losing so much blood you collapse is _not_ a big deal at all." Again with the sarcasm! Between Max and Kelsey, I'd had more than my share of it the last couple of days. "Go on," instructed our wise, stubborn, and annoying leader.

"You were about to _die from blood loss_," I emphasized this last part, "So I donated some blood and Kelsey gave it to you. Not without a ridiculous amount of objecting and refusing due to my 'condition'" I muttered the second sentence but Max still heard.

"Smart women. You, on the other hand, were very stupid. Any of the others could have given me blood. Based on the way you were muttering there I'd say that was Kelsey's thoughts too. You don't donate blood after you've just passed out from blood loss!" Max exclaimed.

Well, she'd hit it on the nose there. I still didn't know why I'd insisted on giving Max my blood. I wasn't about to tell Max though. "Look you needed a transfusion, but any of this lady's equipment could have been contaminated, or she could have dome something to them.. You're the one who's always saying to 'protect the flock at all costs.' Anyway, we were in pretty bad shape, so Kelsey offered to let us rest at her cabin which turned out to be a mansion, and here we are." I finished lamely.

"Okay, and now, here we leave." Max pronounced. She stood up. The machines started beeping wildly, and Max swayed and fell. In a second, I had rushed out of my seat and caught her.

**(Max POV)**

Oh. My. God. Talk about mega-embarrassing. Falling over for no particular reason is so not me, not at all. And _now. _Now my best friend had just caught me. Which left me even more thoroughly embarrassed. I would have preferred to fall.

Fang gently set me back on the bed. "We're going to stay here at least long enough so that you can stand without falling." He said quietly.

I nodded, and flopped back onto the bed. Ouch! I tried to search my memory of the day before, but came up blank. The last thing I remembered was waking up the flock to fly.

Suddenly, the door to the room burst open. "Max, Max, Max" shouted Angel, and threw herself onto me. It hurt, and I winced before quickly smoothing my features. I never allowed the conscious thought of "that hurt" to enter my mind. The things you have to do with a 6-year-old-mind-reading-bird-kid around. But, I was exceedingly grateful that she was here. Hugging my Angel tightly I said, "Hey sweetie." When I released her, she studied my face in a way that no six year old should know how to. I kept my features tightly under control, showing only, "I am glad to see you."

Satisfied, Angel hugged me again. Suddenly, despite the warmth of her body, I became cold. Very cold. So cold that I began to shake, and my teeth rattled in my mouth. One of the machines that I was hooked up to began to beep impatiently. Glancing over, I saw that it was the one that was monitoring my body temperature. And, strangely enough, it was increasing.

**AN: Max is back. Yeah! This chapter wasn't very good, and it came late, so I apologize. I know it seemed like I had dropped the whole "Max has a fever" issue, but I didn't. She still had a fever this whole time, it just wasn't very high. I couldn't find a good place to say that in the story, so I am saying it here. I would also like to thank my three most consistent reviewers 2 of whom were the **_**only ones**_** to review my last chapter. ****Delilah's Garnet****, Riley Manx, and Avvy129. I'm not the type to hold my story hostage for reviews, but surely you guys can do better than that! Sorry again for the late updates, but school is ending and strangely enough the teachers have decided that now is a **_**good**_** time to increase the work load. It any of you are teachers, please be aware that it is indeed a very **_**bad**_** time.**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Guess what

**Disclaimer: I own Maximum Ride just as much as I own House MD. Now here is a question: Are they owned by the same person? Answer: Not at all. Think about it.**

**(Kelsey POV)**

Kelsey sat with her head in her hands. She had screwed up at every possible place with this: taking blood from a kid who had already lost a significant amount, allowing herself to be tied to a tree when there were two kids in critical condition, getting caught up in conversations instead of working, and now not monitoring the girl's condition closely enough. Max had now developed; a fever, chills, dizziness, back pain, and was showing early signs of kidney failure. It wasn't a hard diagnosis. She was reacting to the blood transfusion, which meant that not checking their blood types had been a big mistake.

But she had to make sure. There was little she could do for a transfusion reaction other than to treat the symptoms, but if Max's symptoms weren't caused by a reaction, then it was important to figure out what the cause was. Fang and Max would have to have their blood types tested.

--

**(Fang POV)**

Fang stood silently, watching the flock sleep. All but Max's face was peaceful, their breathing even. He smiled down at them. Kelsey had provided all of them with their own room, but they had instead chosen to sleep in the same room as Max. Keeping watch over their fearless leader, terrified that she would not wake.

Max's face was covered in perspiration, and her mouth was turned down into a silent grimace of pain. Her breathing was uneven and weak, but sleep was still a drastic improvement from her waking hours. Fang grimaced as he remembered the past day. Max had slipped in and out of consciousness, just as her fever and risen and fallen. And then, there were her eyes, full of raw panic hidden behind an emotionless mask, after a laborious trip to the bathroom. The words, whispered so quietly that he had barely been able to hear, even with his enhanced hearing, "There was… blood." He repeated her words to himself. _What was happening to her?_

Suddenly, the door cracked open and Kelsey appeared. She beckoned to him, and then disappeared from the doorway. Fang silently followed, closing the door behind him. As he turned to look at the woman who was supposed to be helping his friend, he was suddenly furious. Betraying no outward signs of his inner rage, he said nothing, waiting for Kelsey to speak.

"Ummm…" Kelsey appeared immensely uncomfortable, and Fang's prolonged silence was not helping, "I think that I know what's wrong with Max," she said in a rush.

In a low, monotonous voice that was somehow more threatening then anything, Fang asked, "Then why- aren't you doing anything about it." It was more of a statement then a question.

Unnerved further by his response, Kelsey's next words were rushed. "Based on her symptoms and the fact that she had a recent blood transfusion, I think that she might be reacting to your blood."

Fang felt a pang of guilt. It was what he had been afraid of. His blood had done this to her: he had done this to her. "What can we do?" he asked quietly.

"I need to make sure. I'll have to test both of your blood types, but if it _**is**_ a transfusion reaction… there isn't much more that we can do."

"Fine" Fang muttered, holding out his arm, and closing his eyes. "Are you gonna do it or not?" he asked about thirty seconds later, when nothing had happened.

"I already did," she replied. Opening his eyes, he was surprised to see Kelsey, smiling and shaking a vial of his blood.

--

**(Kelsey POV)**

Kelsey stared, dumbfounded at the blood in the microscope. She had tested their blood types, and they had both been A positive. To make sure she had combined the blood, and waited for the reaction to happen, but it didn't. And that meant that whatever was happening to Max, it wasn't because of the blood.

--

**(Iggy POV)**

Iggy was sitting beside the pond while the others swam. He had now been in charge for about two days, and he didn't like it. Max was sick, well… more than sick. And Fang was spending all his time with her or Kelsey, leaving him in charge of the other three. Talk about feeling helpless. Not only did he not know the area, was distracted with worry for Max, but the kids were getting restless. How did Max handle them? As it was, he was letting them swim, and whatever else they wanted to do.

Suddenly, Iggy heard a very familiar sound. Wings beating, and mechanical gears churning. Flyboys! "Angel, Nudge, Gazzy!" he shouted.

"We see them," responded Angel's voice, in his head. "How many?" he thought. Rather than answering, Angel sent him a mental picture of about fifty flyboys, heading towards them.

--

**AU: Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know that I haven't updated in about a million years, and that this one is really short. I just wanted to give you guys something. I promise to update as soon as I can. And please, please review. It's so much harder to sit down and write without some reviews!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I deserve to die in many different creative ways for doing this to you guys. Well, finally after a ridiculous interval, here is the next chapter. If any of ya'll are still with me, I am extremely grateful.**

**Disclaimer: How many different ways is there to say, "I don't own it?" God… well, I don't.**

**(Iggy POV)**

Twist. Turn. Punch. Kick. In case any of you were wondering, fighting invisible opponents is not easy, especially when there is a lot of them. But I've gotten used to it.

_Iggy! Behind you! _The sound of Angel's voice came too late. Before I knew it, I was being held by one, two, three, four, five flyboys. I heard another one flying towards me. As useless as it was (particularly for me) I squeezed my eyes shut, and braced myself for pain. Okay… nothing. All I heard was the mechanical whirring of normal flyboy movement. Odd.

Suddenly, Angel sent another mental picture my way. Me, being held in place by five flyboys looking fairly ridiculous with my eyes squeezed shut and a baffled look on my face while another flyboy was… examining me? How weird can you get? _Sorry I can't be of more help, I'm a little busy…_ came Angel's mental narration.

Distracted as I was by the brief, strange moment of mental sight, it took me a moment to notice that I was no longer being held up, and thus, was falling. I snapped open my wings, and sent asked a mental question. _What's going on?_ Angel replied after a moment. _They did the same thing to Gazzy. Now they're doing it to Nudge and me as well. I think that they might be looking for just one of us._

Looking. For just one of us. Like they knew that one of us was weak, vulnerable, it was like they were expecting it. I stored the thought away for later use and flew back into the fight.

--Later—

We all lay panting on the ground. Normally, we don't get all that tired, but trying to fight fifty flyboys at once is a bit of a different story. It was a miracle that we weren't once again property of the school.

Or maybe it wasn't. By all reason, we should have lost. We weren't fighting particularly well, there were fewer of us than normal, and there were _fifty _flyboys! And yet, the flyboys had just flown off. After examining each of us. My earlier thought came back to me, and my stomach sank. Oh… Max. They were looking for Max. Which meant that they knew she was sick, which meant that they had something to do with it….

I shut that line of thought off quickly, but I couldn't prevent the words from entering my head. e_xpiration date._

"We need to get back to the house. Now!" My voice came across less strong and like a leader's than I would have preferred, sounding more panicked, but hey- I'm not the leader. Max was. Or at least she was for now.

**--**

**(Fang POV)**

I was wracking my memory, but was coming up blank. Nada, nothing. I tried again, thinking back as far as I could remember, but I couldn't think of anything. "No. Nothing. Nothing that would cause," I waved my hands around to indicate life in general, "this."

"Mmm. I don't know. I can't explain it either. This makes no sense. At least the blood explanation was simple. It fit." Kelsey sighed.

The same thought was obviously on both of our minds. Yes, it had fit, but somehow, it was wrong. Wait. Crap.

Keying into the sudden shift in my expression, Kelsey asked, "What?"

"I'd forgotten with all that was going on. The reason we were so banged up to begin with was that Max had fallen, and I only caught her at the last second," I paused as a wave of guilt passed over me. I forced myself to continue. "Well, the reason she fell was that Max was… off somehow."

Only the subtlest widening of eyes at the mention of flying and falling out of the sky gave away any surprise on the part of Kelsey. "Off?"

"She'd said she was fine, but… she wasn't. I could tell. She was sick before the fall. Before the blood."

Before the implications of this could set in for either of us, Iggy burst into the room followed closely by Angel, Nudge and Gazzy. They looked roughed up. Kelsey let out a small cry of annoyance.

"Can't you people stay in decent shape _at all? _Now I have to use…" she trailed off into muttering, but was quickly cut off by Iggy.

"Look at her neck."

Huh? Her neck… oh no. No.

Iggy explained, "We got attacked by flyboys. It was weird because instead of trying to kill or capture us, they were just… looking at us. Like they were looking for one of us. We think that one is Max." Iggy paused

Nudge took the opportunity, "Which means that they must have known something was wrong with her. Which means…"

I shook my head vigorously. I knew exactly what they were trying to get at, but that was impossible. If that were the case there would be nothing Kelsey or any of us could do about it. I had seen it in action, and had been terrified. And I hadn't even liked the guy. No, this can't be it…

"Which is why we have to look at her neck. It will probably have shown up there: the expiration date."

Expiration date. The words rang in my head with such pounding force that I had to sit down. Expiration date. No, that's… that's… impossible. It can't be.

"Yes it can," the agonized voice of Angel corrected my thoughts. "And it probably is. We all have them, and Max is the oldest."

I closed my eyes and swatted at my face, wiping away a trickle of moisture. Expiration date. Please god no. "Fine. Check her…" my voice cracked. "Check her neck."

**AU: As I said, or at least implied earlier, I feel like crap. I am sooooooo sorry about the ridiculously slow update. High school sucks. Again, a leave you with a cliffhanger. I think it may be the only way that I can finish a chapter. I will do everything in my ability to update as regularly as possible. Especially if you review. I'm just not motivated otherwise. Again, sorry.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm back. I once again apologize for the slow updates. Winter break has provided a nice opportunity for me to update. This chapter is going to focus on Fang a bit. Sorry that it is so short, but there wasn't really a good place to end it later.**

**Disclaimer: I just realized something. How cool would it be to be sued by James Patterson? I mean: A, it would mean my story is good enough to sue over. B, I might get to suggest some things… C, I have nothing that he could sue me for, being a freshman in high school and all. So… in effort to make this a reality I will no longer be writing disclaimers. However, I will say that one of the lines belongs to the writers of Angel.**

**(Fang POV)**

I closed my eyes and swatted at my face, wiping away a trickle of moisture. Expiration date. Please god no. "Fine. Check her…" my voice cracked. "Check her neck."

Time seemed to slow as everyone advanced toward Max. Everyone except me. I couldn't do this. In an instant, I was out the door and flying. The landscape rushed by me in a blur, and I soon found myself near the site of our crash. The metallic scent of blood permeated the air. Something caught my eye. It was a dirty scrap of fabric. It was stained with blood and dirt, but I still recognized it: a piece of Max's shirt. Carefully, I picked it up, dusted it off to the best of my ability, and gently placed it in my pocket.

Knowing that I would soon be followed by one of the others, and not really ready to face them, I started walking. It would be far easier to find me if I was going through the air. My legs moved without thought. I didn't even see the passing scenery. Instead, my mind was full of memories of Max. The fearless leader, the fun-loving girl, the scared and confused one, and the beautiful women…

I slammed my fist into a tree. Nothing registered. No pain. Sighing, I slid down the trunk of the tree, cradling my bleeding hand. Of all the people I knew, Max was the strongest. Somehow, I had always believed that nothing could affect her. Even when I had seen her hurt, injured, deep down I had known she would get through it. Max didn't deserve to die. After all that had happened, all we had been through, how could this happen? It seemed so… insignificant. That she of all people would be brought down was shattering the way I viewed my life. What part of our lives, what part of our resisting the school for so long mattered if our lives were ultimately cut short by the very people we had worked so long and hard to avoid and defy? Did anything we do matter in the long run?

The pain that I should have felt from driving my fist into the wood of the tree finally registered and I winced. Looking down at what amounted to a scratch, I realized that I already knew the answers to my questions: no.

Nothing that we did mattered in the long run. Nothing we could do would affect the big picture. For a moment, my realization through me off so much that my mind went blank. The change was a welcome one. I embraced the nothingness and allowed myself to just sit.

Later, my brain seemed to re-start.. Glancing around, I tried to orient myself. My natural sense of direction took over, and I took off, flying towards the house. As I flew, I mulled over the meaning of my realization.

If nothing we did mattered, should we even try? Yes. We couldn't stop trying. Somehow, everything we did still seemed to matter one way or another. Suddenly everything seemed to fall into perfect place. If nothing we do matters, then everything we do does. If nothing we do matters, then even the smallest act of kindness could be the greatest thing in the world. It means that every choice we make wholly belonged to us and nothing was being measured, so every moment could be worth a million. It also meant that there was no reason to not seize every moment and make the most of it. I winged my way on.

----

**Later**

I walked through the door and glanced around until I saw Iggy. I grabbed him. "Where is she? When is it? What are we going to do?"

"Whoa, calm down man." Iggy replied.

"Calm down? How can I possibly calm down?" I demanded. "Max has a time limit! An ax hanging over her head! How can I calm down?"

"It wasn't there. No expiration date. Not yet any way." He said quietly.

Relief flooded through me with such force that it nearly knocked me off my feet. No expiration date. Thank god. But that means we still don't know what was wrong. "So, back to guessing then?" I asked.

"Not exactly. Hearing about the whole expiration date gave Kelsey an idea. She thinks she knows what might be happening."

**AU: As always, I leave you with a cliffie. Review!!! Press the button, you know you want to!!!!! Sorry again for the length of this chapter, but it couldn't be avoided. The next one is in planning and will be on its way soon. But reviewing will drastically speed up the process! **


	10. Chapter 10

**I bring you chapter 10! Okay peoples. Reviews = updating. Whether it is intentional on my part or not, if you review, you will get updates. If you don't review, you might eventually get updates. Maybe. Do we understand the concept? I'm feeling review starved here!**

**(Fang POV)**

**--**

_Relief flooded through me with such force that it nearly knocked me off my feet. No expiration date. Thank god. But that means we still don't know what was wrong. "So, back to guessing then?" I asked._

"_Not exactly. Hearing about the whole expiration date gave Kelsey an idea. She thinks she knows what might be happening."_

"What is it? What does it have to do with the expiration date?" I questioned Iggy.

"Woah, hold up. I don't know yet. She wanted to wait for you. Apparently, she thinks that _you_ will be able to tell if it's likely." Iggy explained, sounding slightly resentful. "Apparently, it's a _sight_ thing."

"Oh. Why didn't she tell you anyway?"

"That's what _I_ said, but _noooo._ Come on, she told me to bring you in when you…" Iggy hesitated, not wanting to push me, "came back."

Iggy turned around and headed towards the living room. When we got there, I saw Kelsey, sitting on the couch, head in her hands, and looking thoroughly worn out. The sight gave me mixed feelings. On one hand, it was nice that someone was worried about us other than us for a change. On the other hand, I felt kind of guilty for imposing. Just by helping us, she was in danger, and she had helped us a lot. Not to mention the fact that we hadn't been particularly grateful. More like suspicious and hostile. Not that we didn't have good reason to be. Trust wasn't a luxury that we had in our lives.

After a moment, I cleared my throat, and she jumped about a foot. "Ah! Oh, I'm sorry. I guess I'm tired, not very observant. Sorry." She smiled weakly. I raised my eyebrow. "Right okay. After you left, Iggy explained the whole expiration date situation. As far as I know, it is completely impossible to program in a specific date for any organism to die. Even if it had been genetically altered from the time it was a fetus, the idea is completely absurd."

"Well, absurd as it may be, it's true. Unless you're implying that we're all very stupid, all lying, or all insane." I shot back coldly. Just because she wasn't aware that it could be done didn't mean that it couldn't be done. The whitecoats had done many things that people would say is impossible.

"No, no. I'm not trying to imply any of that. I have no doubt that a date does indeed appear on the necks of the people experimented on by this school of yours, and that they die on that date. What I'm saying is that it can't be genetic. Whatever it is that kills them, it isn't an internal factor. Not in the conventional sense of the term anyway. Most likely, there is some mechanism that can be triggered by an external signal."

"Um… what?" She'd lost me.

Kelsey sighed. "What I mean is that what probably happens on these expiration dates, are that some sort of toxin is released into the bloodstream from a mechanical container. Which means that it would be possible for that container to break, leaking the poison into the bloodstream, and possibly killing that person before there expiration date showed up. But it would be much slower. Instead of a bunch of poison being released at once, it would be a little bit at a time."

Like what was happening to Max. And the school would probably know that her… poison container had been broken. It all made sense, but I didn't see how it helped us. "And you think that this is what is happening to Max? What can we do then?"

"_If_ I'm right, then whatever it is that's making her sick could be surgically removed. The rest of them too. You could avoid you're expiration dates, and save Max."

Woah. That was almost too great to consider. Saving Max and getting rid of our expiration dates all at the same time. The expiration date issue had always weighed me down. I know it had bothered Max too. How long would we get to live as decreed by the school? Another year? Two? Or just a few months? The knowledge that we could just… have them removed, was giving me a strange high. Seeing the goofy grin on Iggy's face, I know that he felt the same way.

"Really?! That's _**excellent**_! Why aren't we doing it right now? Max first, then Fang, then me, then all of the others. We should start right away!" Iggy said with feeling.

Iggy was blind, so he couldn't see the look on Kelsey's face. It was sad, but not despair. More like concern, caution, and reluctance.

"That's not all is it? It's more complicated, isn't it?" I asked, rapidly coming down from the high I'd just been riding.

"No. I don't have any idea where to look. I can't just go hacking through you guys until I come across something that shouldn't be there. I would have to know where it was first, and then, I would have to have at least some basic knowledge of your anatomy, and because there has never been any human-avian hybrids other than you in history, that is going to be hard."

"So… that's it then. We know the problem but can't do anything about it?" I asked quietly. The story of our lives. There wasn't anything you can do.

"Not exactly. It wouldn't actually be hard to locate it, as long as there aren't any decoys or other pieces of technology stuck into you, which, from what you've told me is quite possible. What I would have to do is a full body scan. Locate the container using that, and then MRI that specific area so that I would have a better idea of what I'm dealing with."

That was better than nothing, but from her tone of voice, I knew that a getting a full body scan and MRI would be potentially problematic. "Let me guess. You'd don't have a full body scanner or an MRI machine here."

"Nope. And that means that we need to go to the hospital, and being that the hospital would probably take issue with a non-doctor waltzing in and using their equipment on a bunch of bird kids." Kelsey sighed.

"And _that _means," I said taking up where she left off, "that us bird kids, and you, are going to have to break into a hospital."

**--**

**AU: That wasn't too much of a cliffie. Anyway, review! Please. I have decided that I am open to suggestions. Not plot lines or anything, although if you really have a good idea, I'd like to hear it, but I basically have this story planned out. Just filler stuff, little things that you would like to see happen in this story.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello peps! How about book 5, eh? (Very slight book 5 spoilers in rest of AN) I thought it kind of got the series back on track after book 4. We once again have a villain that will be present through more than just one book, and we once again have villain grunts attacking the flock **_**en masse.**_** Plus the whole FAX issue. ^_^ I'm happy. Obviously, this fic is set before book five, and is now going to be somewhat AU since anything I do with FAX (there will be some actual FAX in this chapter. Not too fluffy, but defiantly not just hinting at it,) won't be what happened in the books… anyway on to chapter 11! This chapter is rather short, but very important.**

**Disclaimer: Oh, yeah, I'm not doing these anymore, habit.**

**Claimer: I totally and completely own Maximum Ride. And while I'm at it, I own the entire world. **_**Bwahahahahaha!!!!**_** Anyways…**

**(Max POV)**

**--**

Dreams can be funny things. For that matter, life can be a funny thing. But usually, I'm able to tell the difference between the two. Now was not one of those times. I was lucid enough to realize that I was drifting in and out of consciousness, but that was about it. I couldn't tell between the swirling dark and light of unconsciousness, and the swirling light and dark of consciousness. I wasn't aware of time, and I wasn't aware of place. My only thought was that I had to wake up. I couldn't remain in this half sleep: my flock needed me.

After what could have been five minutes, five hours, or five days, I became aware that sometimes I could feel a something: a soft, stroking sensation around my head. Later, I started to hear what seemed to be a kind of choked cooing. And eventually, I came to recognize the voice: Fang. As soon as I did, I know I _had _to talk to him. I didn't know why, but I knew I had to wake up.

As I tried to make my way to the surface, I began to understand some of the words. It was hard to tell, but did it sound like he was… crying?

"Max… max. God. You should see yourself. I… I miss you." He laughed, it was kind of a weak, strangled, sound. "You should see me. Iggy says I look worse than you. I don't know how he knows that…" He sighed. "This flock needs you Max. You can't…" he practically choked.

"Die." He whispered. "You _can't _. "

I remembered what it was I needed to tell him. I quite literally forced my eyes open, and the world eventually swam into focus.

"Max!" Fang sounded estatic. "You're awake. Thank god."

"Fang," I croaked. "I need you… to promise me something." Suddenly I was enveloped in a huge, bone breaking hug. "Can't… breathe." I gasped. The hug suddenly loosened significantly.

"You're awake." And then, Fang did something that I would never have expected. He buried his face into my shoulder and started to cry, and that made what I had to tell him even harder. Nothing that anyone else would have noticed, but knowing him as I did, I could feel the slight shaking, a sure sign that there were at least some tears in his eyes, even if I couldn't see them from where I was. "Shhh… it's okay. It's fine." I rubbed his back. "It's all going to be fine." I winced, happy Fang couldn't see. I wasn't sure whether or not I was telling the truth. I knew that odds were I was. I truly, truly wished that I had that luxury, but I didn't.

"Fang," I began, and I guess my tone of voice tipped him off, because he suddenly became ridged, and shook his head.

"No."

"Yes Fang, we need to discuss this. If," I gulped, and closed my eyes, "If I die, you will be flock leader. You have to be. They need you." By now, Fang had pulled out of the hug, and was shaking his head vehemently.

"**No.** Don't say that. You. Will. Be. Fine." Fang said forcefully, then, without hesitation or trepidation, he bend his head forward and kissed me.

I had kissed Fang before, but this kiss was different. Before, it had almost been experimental kisses, to see if we worked, to see if we fit together. Before, his kisses had been a question. This kiss was a decision, an acceptance, and full of pain, fear, and love. I blinked, and kissed him back without thinking. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and his arms encircled my waist. For a moment, I was blissfully happy.

Unfortunately, my head started to swim all too quickly. Fang slowly pulled away, but left his arms around me. Setting his face on my shoulder, he turned towards my ear. "You see why I can't let you go. You see why you can't give up. I won't let you leave me." It was an agonized whisper.

Once again, I squeezed my eyes shut. "Fang. Do you think this is easy for me? Believe me when I say that I'm not giving up. I don't want to leave you. I don't want to leave the flock." I pulled away from him for a moment, and held his chin, looking into his eyes.

"I don't want to die." I said the words very quietly, and as I did, a tear fell from his eye, and traced the path of his cheekbone. Slowly, I lifted my finger, and touched it to the tear. Holding my finger to the light, I studied it. It was a normal tear.

For all of the differences between our lives and those of humans, for all of the biological differences, we were still mainly the same. We felt the same emotions, whether it be fear, love, or sorrow. We still laughed, still hugged, still looked up at the stars and wondered what it all meant. And we still cried. Even Fang, who to most of the world seemed incredibly stoic, emotionless even, felt the same emotions. He just dealt with them differently. But right now, right now he was crying.I didn't want him to be sad, but it was unavoidable. As much as I loved him, I also loved the rest of my flock, and they needed a leader.

"I'm sorry. I just need you to be ready. You and I both know that, no matter what we want, what we hope for, we need to be prepared. And you have to be ready to do what is needed." I briefly kissed him on the lips. "You do that, and I swear, I will do my very best to beat this thing."

He nodded. It was very slight, and almost completely unwilling, but he understood. I smiled. "Thank you."

Suddenly, my exhaustion caught up with me, and I sagged against the bed, allowing my eyes to flutter closed. I heard Fang start to get up, so I scooted over a bit, and mumbled, "No, stay…" It wasn't long before I felt his warm body beside me, and arm around my back. I was, for the first time in a long time, completely comfortable. I once again entered the world of dreams, but this time I was smiling.

--  
**AU: Review!!!! I gave you what most of you wanted. In the next chapter, they will go to the hospital. Review. Go on, press the button now. Here's the plan. The more reviews I get, the faster I update. Really. Now that I'm having to deal with high school, it takes a lot to motivate me. But today, I wrote this chapter instead of doing my homework, so I think I deserve a review. Yeah. Oh, and by the way, if any of you would like to be my beta, PM me or put it in your review.  
**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Wow… it's been how long since I updated? Blame my muse. He ran away. But I'm back now. This is a lighter hearted filler chapter after all of the angsty stuff I've written. Anyway, the next chapter is going to be a hospital scene, and I want all of your opinions on something. They are going to have to interact with hospital staff at some point, and I wanted to know if you guys would prefer for me to make up original characters, or if I should do a light crossover with **_**Scrubs **_**or **_**House.**_** Let me know in your reviews. That is if anyone is still reading after all this time… again, sorry. On with the chapter! Being as there was something wrong with the site when I first uploaded this, and no one was able to review, I am going to re-upload this, and hope for the sake of the story that I get some reviews, because I really need motivation to continue.  
**

**Fang POV**

I have to admit, I was confused. On one hand, I had finally gotten somewhere with Max in the romantic department, and about that, I was ecstatic. I mean… I've been in love with her for a long time. Not that I actually realized it until fairly recently. On the other hand, she's in a miserable state and we are about to commit several felonies in an effort to cure her. But despite all of that, at the moment I was just amused.

"Oh for the love of GOD, would you all please SHUT UP!!!" Kelsey finally burst out. The room was quiet for a moment before everyone once again burst into heated argument. Snippets of the conversation could be heard.

"Why can't we use a bomb?! I mean… It would be a great distraction!" Iggy.

"Can I be the paramedic? Just because Fang's oldest doesn't mean he should get to do it. I mean… I'm sure that I could act very professionally. I'm going to be a famous actress someday! No one will have any idea that I'm just…" Nudge.

"I know! I could eat a few burritos right before hand, and when I walk in I'll just…" Gazzy.

"EW!" Everyone.

"Listen guys, all of these ideas are great and all, but do we really need them if I could just use mind control on anyone we run into?" And that would be our sweet yet creepy youngest member, Angel.

"Well, that might work except for the fact that there will be a lot of people there, and personally I'm not sure you're quite that good yet. Plus Max doesn't like you doing the whole 'messing with peoples' minds bit. AND what if you missed someone and they called the police and because it was obvisous that something weird was going on, then someone from the school might find out and…" Nudge again.

This whole time Kelsey had her head in her hands, rubbing her temples and occasionally groaning in annoyance. It looked as if she was on the verge of repeatedly banging her head against the wall behind her for good measure. I decided to take pity on her. I cleared my throat, and gave everyone the 'hush now!' look. And they did. I looked around. "Everyone, I know you want to help. However, the most _helpful_ thing right now would be to follow orders, so this can be finished as quickly as possible. We have a plan, let's stick to it." I said quietly.

They all looked appropriately solemn. Kelsey breathed a sigh of relief.

"As Fang said, we have a plan that has been discussed with Max, and she, Fang, and I all agree that this is the easiest way to get this thing done without causing a big ripple. The thing is, in order for this plan to work, we are going to need costumes. Fang and I both need very specific outfits, and the rest of you need to look the part too. Since we obviously can't take Max on a shopping spree," at this, Nudge squealed so loudly that Kelsey paused for a moment. After looking at her with a raised eyebrow, Kelsey continued, "Since we obviously can't take Max with us, and someone needs to stay here to look after her, we need someone to stay here."

"I will," I volunteered easily. This was the part of the plan I was most uncomfortable with, and if I could be the one stay with Max, I would feel much better leaving her basically alone. But Kelsey was already shaking her head.

"No, we need you to come. You need a lot of specific things that have to look just right. Really the best person to stay would be Iggy. None of his things have to fit particularly well, plus he's old enough to look after things well."

Iggy looked offended and disappointed. "Um… hello! Blind! I can't 'look' after anything!"

Kelsey had the common decency to blush. Not that it consoled Iggy. "I'm sorry. That was bad wording, but from what I've seen you are a very capable young man, and it would probably be more enjoyable for you to stay here anyway. We are going to be in a lot of different, unfamiliar places." When Iggy's scowl didn't change, she threw him a bone, "Plus, we need you to stay here so you can work on some smoke bombs in case something goes wrong and any of us need a fast getaway." At this, Iggy brightened considerably.

"Okay, sound good? The rest of you be ready to leave in ten minutes. And, for the record, we are going to drive. No flying."

Since I was already ready to go, I decided to poke my head into Max's room for a few minutes. Quietly opening the door, I glanced in to see if she was asleep. I was instead greeted with a tired smile. "Hey," I said as I entered.

"Hey."

"In a few minutes we're all going to get our gear for the various crimes we plan on committing. Iggy's gonna stay with you. He might be a little distracted though. Kelsey's letting him make smoke bombs."

Max rolled her eyes good naturedly. "I supposed we can't deny him some sort of explosion in this whole thing. How long do you think you'll be?" She patted the bed beside her, and carefully crawled beside her. I put my arm around her, and she snuggled up to me. Although if she ever knew that I had just thought of the word 'snuggle' in relation to her, my ears would probably be ringing for a week.

"A few hours. Nothing too long, but apparently we have quite a lot to get. Kelsey made the mistake of using the phrase, 'shopping spree.'" I chuckled, and Max joined in.

"Let me guess, Nudge went slightly crazy." Max said with a knowing grin. I nodded.

We were quiet for a while after that, just enjoying each other's company, and both slightly awkward. Ever since what I have come to think of as 'the talk,' we had both been intentionally avoiding any serious topics, but being as the situation kind of lent itself to seriousness, it did leave us with more than the occasional uncomfortable silence.

Glancing at the clock, I groaned. "Gotta go," I said, but didn't move.

"Isn't that phrase usually said right before, you know, going?" Max asked jokingly.

"Yes," I sighed, and finally extracted myself from my position next to her. After giving her a quick peck on the lips, I moved towards the door. "See ya soon."

Max gave a half-hearted little wave before sinking back into her pillows. I headed towards the front of the house.

**Review!!!! And don't forget: _House, Scrubs, _or OCs?  
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